


Admire At Your Own Risk

by SinFrog



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types, Sonic: What If?
Genre: Amy Rose and Cream the Rabbit are (basically) Siblings, Amy backstory, Chao Garden, Cream backstory, Gen, Mentions of Sonic Advance 1, Mentions of Sonic Shuffle, Mostly Cream-centric, Sonic Advance 2, Team Rose Origin Story, What If Sonic Lost His Memory?, With a large side of Amy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:54:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23684968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SinFrog/pseuds/SinFrog
Summary: --- A fanfiction set in The Sega Scourge's 'What If Sonic Lost His Memory?' universe. ---When Amy Rose met Sonic the Hedgehog, he quickly became her idol. A beautiful star that stole her heart and gave her motivation.When Cream the Rabbit met Amy Rose, she quickly became her idol. A shining star to always aim for, and the sister she never had.When both of them lose their stars, who will be left to guide them?(For the best experience, please watch the first episode of 'What If Sonic Lost His Memory' before reading!)
Relationships: Amy Rose & Cream the Rabbit, Cream the Rabbit & Shadow the Hedgehog
Kudos: 4





	Admire At Your Own Risk

"Ah... Excuse me, that's-"

With a panicked gasp and her tiny frame suddenly jolting in surprise, Cream looked up and over her shoulder with nervous, ashamed eyes.

"I'm sorry, miss! Are they yours? It's just... Your Chao, it's really cute, and I..."

Cream trailed off, getting to her feet and facing the lady looking down on her. The lady's expression was slightly shocked at first, not expecting such a reaction, but it soon faded into a soft smile as she saw the way Cream anxiously bowed her hand and clenched the fabric of her dress tightly.

"I'm glad you think so! Don't worry, I wasn't gonna yell at you or anything. What's your name?"

"I-I'm Cream."

"I'm Amy! Amy Rose." Amy giggled once again, this time at herself for mimicking Sonic's little catchphrase, despite her being the only one in the room who'd know it as such.

Cream, on the other hand, was still a bit shaken from her fear of possibly being shouted at by this lady much bigger than she was. With a relieved exhale, she released the death-grip on her own clothing and turned her focus back to the adult Chao that had now excitedly run into the arms of it's mother. Cream found herself enamored by the Chao's large black eyes and to some, unsettling white pupils. Cream didn't think Hero Chao were scary in the slightest, and was in fact pretty jealous that this girl had such a cute friend to call her own! Or a friend at all, for that matter. Amy scooped the little thing up and began absentmindedly petting it's head (much to the Chao's audible delight) while continuing to address Cream.

"It's a public Chao Garden smack-dab in the middle of a hotel, if my Chao caught your attention out of all the others..." Amy looked around, spying the sparse number of Chao dotted about Station Square's Garden frolicking to their hearts content.

"...Then I must be raising him well, right?" She was now properly sitting on the floor, eye-level with Cream.

"I wish I had a Chao of my own... My mommy's talking to the man outside to ask about raising them." The rabbit's little voice seemed small and frail, was she still nervous? Or was this just - how she was? Amy's expression turned thoughtful.

"Raising Chao isn't too hard once you get the hang of it, but you need to make sure their environment is just right, y'know? My little guy here loves to swim, so I can't just keep him cooped up in my apartment! The hotel staff have time set aside for the Chao and their owners to go swimming in the pool out back, you should see it! It's like a pool party!" Amy giggled yet again, her Chao wriggling excitedly in her arms at the mention of swimming.

Gosh, she certainly did love to laugh, this Amy. Cream let out a shy chuckle of her own in response, a smile quickly worming it's way onto her face as she relaxed. She scooted closer to Amy, reaching out one hand to pet the Swim Chao in her lap.

"How will I know if my Chao's a boy, like yours? There wasn't anything about that in my books..."

"Well, I'm pretty sure there aren't actually boy or girl Chao, they just kinda... Respond to whatever you call 'em! It's not like they can see the difference, 'cause-"

"Because Chao can breed with eachother no matter what, right? And make eggs? I know about that part, they make a bunch of flowers around themselves, right?" 

Amy blinked, the girl had suddenly lit up at the chance to share her knowledge on Chao! She mentioned having books on them, so she much _really_ be putting in the effort to convince her mother. With a quick thumbs up, Amy beamed as her Chao crawled over to Cream, poking at her curiously.

"Mhm! If you're reading Chao books, then I bet you'll do a great job raising one of your own."

"I really hope so... My mommy's still a bit nervous, because I'm only little, but I want a Chao more than anything else in the whole world!" For the first time since they'd started talking, Cream actually raised her voice a bit, her hands once again balling into fists. They quickly relaxed, however, as Cream remembered the Chao in her lap.

"Ah! Sorry, did that scare you?"

While Cream was fussing over the Chao, Amy watched on, still holding that thoughtful expression.

"And why's that?"

"Huh?"

"Why do you want a Chao so badly? Is it just cause they're cute?"

"No! Not at all, I-it's because..." Cream shrunk back down again, seemingly losing some of that composure she'd been gaining over the course of the conversation. Her eyes turned down to the Chao crawling around her lap as her voice once again became small and uncertain.

"I'm no good at making friends. E-Everyone thinks I'm too polite, that I'm creepy or a pushover because of that... But Chao - they don't care about any of that stuff, they grow big and strong based on the love you give them, so maybe..!"

"Maybe I'd be able to make a Chao grow big and strong some day, and it wouldn't ever tell me those nasty things..."

Cream sat silently for a moment, body tense and brain whirring with all the thoughts, fears, hopes and everything else that'd been buzzing around her mind lately. If she had a Chao, all that would be different! She'd have someone, no matter what she said or did, who'd always be by her side! A _real_ friend! One who-

...Cream slowly turned her eyes back up to Amy, realizing that she'd just spilled her insecurities to a complete stranger, one who was now looking at her with worryingly glazed-over eyes.

"I-I-I mean, um..!"

Snapping out of her stupor, Amy quickly gave an awkward cough, trying to throw on a smile as she spoke.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone any of that stuff, do you feel any better now that you said it?"

  
"A little bit..."

"That's good! One of the best things about having friends is that they can listen to what you have to say, even when it's things that make you sad. Chao are _wonderful_ , they're cute, cuddly and can really make you smile!" 

Amy's sunny expression quickly warped, still smiling, but with an edge of concern.

"But they can't talk back. That's a really important role for a friend to fill." Amy bent forward a bit, removing her Chao from Cream's lap before it tried to steal her attention or fall asleep or something.

Cream didn't say anything, she just stared back at Amy, hanging onto her words despite looking a bit ashamed of herself.

"So, what do you say? I think someone as kind as you, who wants to care for Chao, would be a great friend to have. D'you wanna meet up again some time, Cream? If you need me to, I can help ease your mom's worries!" With a big smile and extended hand, Amy waited for Cream's reply.

...What? This - this _couldn't_ be that simple, Cream thought, absolutely no way. At first she was expecting to get yelled at, then she got to talk about Chao, and it all kind of escalated into... Into personal stuff. Now she wanted to be friends? Just like that? Was Amy secretly one of the scary strangers that her mom warned her about? Somehow, it didn't feel that way. The warm, gentle sunlight peered through the glass panes above and left Amy practically shining in front of Cream's view. Her worries melted away as she began to nod her head rapidly and take Amy's hand in both of hers, shaking it up and down.

"I-I'd like that..!"

* * *

On another day, a couple of weeks later, Cream was once again visiting the big city of Station Square. She was actually quite accustomed to the place now, no longer getting nervous when they'd leave the hotel and the safe environment of the often-empty Chao Garden. According to Amy, not many people in Station Square owned Chao due to how hard it is to raise them in small apartments and not wanting to have to visit the hotel just to see their pets. Cream had huffed at that, commenting that they had no idea what they were missing, much to Amy's amusement. Today, though, they weren't visiting the Station Square Chao Garden, but rather taking the train! Amy had spent some time with Vanilla after their first meeting and on other occasions that the two of them had arranged to meet in the city, as such Vanilla was perfectly content to let her daughter take the short train ride so long as Amy promised to take care of her.

"Thanks again, Miss Vanilla!"

"No problem, dear! Make sure to let me know when you're coming back, and don't stay too long!"

"Got it!" Amy flashed her shiny new phone that she'd been showing off to Cream all day, bright pink and shining in the sunlight.

"When I get older, I'll have a phone like yours! Then we'll be able to talk even when I'm at home!" Cream was already hopping around the practically deserted train car excitedly as Amy entered, enjoying the clanking sounds of the metal floor beneath her shoes.

"Of course! Now c'mon, sit down already! Before the train starts moving!" Despite her bubbly talk, Amy couldn't help but sigh as she gently set her bag up onto one of the slightly-too-tall seats, climbing up herself and then helping Cream into an adjacent one. Some day they'll get Mobian-sized handrails and seats installed on all of these things, a lot of them are still only made for human transport. It couldn't be helped, though. Not really. The coastal area with the hotel and Twinkle Park had managed to complete it's repairs pretty swiftly, but most of the city's funding was still going to repairs after the Perfect Chaos incident. Not really a good time to be talking about the remodeling of trains.

"Thinking about it, you probably could've just flown up onto there, huh?"

"Hm..? Oh! You're right!" Cream's face lit up as she laughed freely, a comforting sight that Amy was always glad to see after noting how Cream was acting when they first met. It also turned out she could fly using her ears! Like, what? How cool was that!?

The train's engine kicked up, rattling the interior and even further entertaining Cream, who was relishing in the new experience of travelling by rail. Amy, on the other hand, turned to the bag she'd set down beside herself and unzipped it, removing it's contents:

"Chaooo~!"

Cream gasped at the familiar sound, having completely forgotten that Amy had brought 'Nissho' along for the journey (after they'd made plans to hang out again, Amy had told Cream her Chao's name). He immediately began looking all around the train, catching sight of Cream and letting out some happy, yet completely unintelligible babbles. Seeing that he wanted to go say hello to their mutual friend, Amy passed the little guy to Cream, who cuddled the Chao gratefully as the three of them fell into a comfortable silence. Amy opted to look out of the window straight ahead from her, eyes glazing over as the city fell away in the face of blue skies and white, fluffy clouds. She had a habit of doing that, glazing over completely and submerging in her own thoughts... This time, her mind cast its focus on their plans for the day: Get off at the Mystic Ruins stop, visit the Mystic Ruins Garden, go introduce Cream to Tails and then head back in one piece. If she could manage that, then Miss Vanilla would be able to trust her wholeheartedly to look after Cream! Despite her outgoing nature, Amy had also spent most of her time alone before starting to regularly spend time with her new friend, not often able to catch up with Sonic and not really knowing Tails well enough to warrant the two of them hanging out. 

Which, admittedly, would make her appearing on his doorstep later today slightly out of the ordinary, but he's probably lonely in there anyway! With the amount of Sonic-related stories Amy's already told Cream, she's excited to meet practically anyone related to the guy.

"Ah!" Cream suddenly let out a surprised noise as Nissho attempted to flutter up to one of those dangling not-golden rings that the humans hold onto, Amy quickly reaching up and gently pulling him back down into her own lap.

"Careful! Even though he's not so great at flying, he sometimes likes to run off and jump at things he's interested in. Remember the time with that lady's hat?"

Cream snickered to herself, remembering exactly the occasion a human woman had come to visit her Chao, only for Nissho to try and make off with her large and colourful hat.

With little more than some quiet babbling from Nissho, the two girls were once again quiet, Cream taking in both the scenery of the train and the unfamiliar sights flying by outside the window. When she turned to look at Amy, Cream noticed that she was completely glazed over, just like when Cream had confided in her about her troubles. She'd seen Amy get like this a few times, actually, lost in her own thoughts or merely just daydreaming. As the ride continued, Cream eventually spoke up:

"Amy, were you nervous to ask my mommy if we could go to the ruins?"

"H-Huh? Oh-" Amy looked at Cream, snapping out of her trance.

"I mean, sure I was. We haven't known eachother _that_ long, and here I am asking to take you away on a train! If you weren't looking forward to the idea so much, I probably wouldn't have been able to ask her at all."

"But what about your mommy? Were you scared to talk to her?"

Amy didn't respond to that, not right away. Cream saw her vaguely try to stammer and gesture her way to an answer she wanted to give, but it seemingly wasn't happening. After a second, though - Amy was able to compose herself and just sighed, deciding to answer literally.

"I didn't need to ask my mom."

"Wow, really? She must trust you a whole lot!"

"It's not that, Cream, I live on my own."

Cream's curious face was very swiftly substituted by a concerned one.

"But... But you're not a grown up."

"I know, my Mom and Dad are both... Busy. Far away. We talk over the phone, and they send me money to keep me afloat, that's how I afford my apartment and all my stuff. Whenever we call, they always sound like they're having a good time, so-" Amy stretched her arms above her head, letting out a deep exhale that could be mistaken for a sigh upon her arms falling back around Nissho.

"I try to have a good time too. I'm lucky to live in Station Square, it's got plenty of things to keep me occupied, and it's where I met you! Maybe one day my Mom and Dad will come to visit, and you can meet them."

Cream was glad that story didn't go somewhere sad and horrible, nodding at Amy as the a chime overhead signaled that they'd reached their stop.

"Now, enough about that! C'mon!" Amy quickly snatched up her bag and held Nissho under one arm as she beckoned Cream to quickly hop onto the platform.

"Bye, train!" Cream called out as she hurried after Amy.

* * *

A hedgehog and a rabbit walked into a dense jungle with winding, interlocking paths. While it sounded like the setup to some kind of joke, Cream certainly wasn't laughing as she hung closely to Amy's side, face firmly locked into an arrangement of worry.

"Amy... I don't think this is the way to the Chao Garden at all..."

"W-Well! I-"

Amy sighed.

"I haven't exactly been here in a while, maybe we should have gone to see Tails first..." Groaning, she shifted her bag around on her shoulder to try and make it feel even slightly more comfortable. No such luck. Nissho seemingly didn't care about being lost, he was getting his exercise either way. With happy cooing sounds, he lead the charge down dark and dirty paths.

Cream, despite her fears, _was_ a little bit excited to be lost on an adventure with Amy. She'd already heard countless stories of Sonic and his exploits, and it seemed as though those tales were awakening some kind of wanderlust in the little girl, driving her feet forward where a few weeks ago she may have done nothing more than curl up and cry. Looking up at Amy, Cream noted that her brow was furrowed and she was biting her lip nervously. It was obvious from the start that Amy had been trying to prove herself to Vanilla by taking Cream out on a trip, and seeing this? Cream was actually more reassured than ever that Amy would look out for her no matter what.

So why not return the favour? Lighten things up for her. Cream gently put a hand on Amy's arm and spoke:

"You said that you've been training hard to be more like Sonic, what do you think he'd do right now?"

"Sonic? I think... He'd probably try and get somewhere high, but I can't run up walls like he can yet. He might get Tails to carry him, but-" Amy looked down at Cream, who's eyes widened a bit, heartbeat quickening in response to being possibly compared to Sonic's sidekick.

"...No, you might hurt yourself trying to carry me." Amy turned her eyes back onto the road, her companion deflating a bit.

"If it means anything, I don't think you look heavy at all!"

"Y-You're darn right I don't!" That got her attention, rustling sounds overhead indicating that a few birds had been spooked by her loud exclamation. Cream just giggled, earning an eye-roll in response.

"Can't imagine you really being such a punk under that sweet facade..." Amy crossed her arms tightly, huffing at the comment. She softened, however, after thinking for a second. Cream wasn't a punk at all, and was probably trying to lighten the mood. Amy sighed, reaching over and patting Cream on the head without looking.

"Thanks for the compliment." She murmured. Cream replied with nothing more than a contented hum, appreciating the gesture.

With the mood successfully lightened, the pair picked up the pace, Amy once again holding Nissho in her arms as they jogged through the various twisted paths of the jungle. He seemed to be making... Whooshing noises? Oh, his arms were outstretched, pretending to be a superhero. Adorable. The various turns and bends blended together until neither of them could really remember where they'd been, but hoping that they'd somehow make it back to the ladder they dropped down by pure luck... All of a sudden, Cream's ears twitched and her eyes widened as she stopped on a dime to look around. Amy didn't quite get the memo, given Cream didn't exactly issue one, and had to skid to a halt a second later.

"What is it? Why'd you stop?"

"What's that noise?"

Amy's brow briefly furrowed in confusion, noise? She didn't hear any noise. Could she have misheard something from Nissho? As Cream continued to look around, Amy realized it: her ears! Cream's sense of hearing was better than her own, and she must be able to hear something that Amy can't. 

"It sounds like... Like a rumbling? No, more like snoring! If there's somebody in this jungle, they might be able to take us home, right?" Cream looked up at Amy with expecting eyes, really just wanting their little adventure to close out sooner rather than later.

Amy, on the other hand, isn't so certain she likes the idea of being guided to safety by a vague 'something' sleeping in the jungle. Still though, something in the back of her mind told her that she's forgotten something, and that the description Cream had given was familiar somehow.

"It's better than nothing... Lead the way, and we'll try and move towards it." Amy shuffled behind Cream and tried her best to keep Nissho still. The Chao didn't appreciate this one bit after such a fun time of going fast, making the occasional quiet grumble as his mother practically had to wade through the jungle's brush just to try and get closer to the noise. The smaller of the two Mobians had taken to flying just above the thick greenery, not actually being tall enough to wade through, but Amy had to wonder if her hearing was at all impeded by flapping her ears up and down like that...

"Um... Amy?"

"What's wrong?"

"T-There's lots of thorns, and I don't think I can fly much-" Before she can even finish, Amy had pushed her way underneath Cream and stoop up straight again, leaving her sitting on the hedgehog's back.

"Times like this make me glad I got my back quill removed! I won't be able to get through these thorns, though, so we'll have to go 'round. Keep an ear out, OK?" Amy _felt_ Cream nodding more than she heard her reply, pressing on despite the additional weight.

Ugh, her dress was getting absolutely filthy.

"We're getting pretty far away from the snoring, now... It's getting harder to hear, because I think we're also near some water?" Cream's left ear raised up as she turned her head. Nissho quickly jerked at the mention of water.

"Hey - settle down! I know this might not be that fun, but it'd be worse if I had to coop you up in that bag, so be good!" Amy kicked off some stray roots and leaves stuck to her boots as the brush finally cleared away to reveal another dirt path. Sure enough, a river was running close by.

Cream hopped off of Amy's back, moving her ears about to try and get a good listen for their mysterious snoring.

"Ugh, what would Sonic do..?" Amy was once again fretting, putting Nissho down by her feet to give him a chance to rest as they came to a stop. In her glazed-over state, she didn't even recognize her mistake as Cream gasped, crying out as the Chao started running towards the river and threw himself through the air and into the water.

"H-Huh!? No, Nissho, don't-!" A splash silenced Amy's shout of realization, her beloved pet immediately getting swept up by the rapid current and dragged away into the jungle as he yelled out in panic. This wasn't what he expected at all!

Without so much as a word, Amy tore off down the side of the river towards Nissho, Cream doing her best to keep up behind her as the pink hedgehog slowly began gaining speed. Even past the rushing wind, Cream's sensitive ears could pick up on Amy's laboured breathing, already tired out by their extended walk and now being forced to move at such a speed without warning. But despite that, she was pushing her body further and further to accelerate! Nissho was getting further and further away in the distance, and Cream's tiny legs were quickly being outclassed as the gap between the two girls grew wider and wider. Before Cream's eyes, Amy began to lower her body to the ground and throw her arms out behind her back, fists clenched as her speed dramatically increased! Amy was _really_ leaving Cream in the dust now, the rabbit trying her best to flap her ears and gain more speed, but just not being able to produce enough force for such a task. Desperate to not be abandoned, she opted instead to call out after Amy:

"PLEASE! Don't leave me here!"

The call was like a bolt of lightning through Amy's head, causing her to whip around and look at Cream with horrified eyes, realizing that she'd almost left a defenseless child alone in the jungle. With her running form disrupted and her no longer paying attention to where her feet were falling, Amy tripped and quickly fell into a crumpled mess of limbs that bounced once before rolling to a halt. Cream was there almost immediately, wrapping her arms around Amy's waist and shivering with fear. Amy coughed, slowly rising into a sitting position as the younger girl continued to cling on for dear life.

...Just what the heck was that? Some attempt at being a hero? Amy's fists and jaw clenched tightly as her eyes squinted shut. All that training meant _nothing_ if she couldn't apply it to even save a single Chao! Sonic would've grabbed Nissho and been back to Cream in half a second! Everything would've been fine! 

"A-Amy..?"

Sonic probably wouldn't have even gotten _lost_ in the first place, and if he did, he'd have-

"Amy, someone's-!"

Once again, Amy was torn from her mental echo-chamber back to reality as she saw a large shadow engulf both herself and Cream. With a slight trepidation, she turned to see a gigantic Mobian looming overhead, it's reflective orange eyes glinting against the shadows cast on it's whole upper body. Cream was downright trembling, but Amy's eyes flew wide open as she realized who it was she had forgotten about.

"It's... It's you..?"

"You were the girl with the birdie, back when the city got filled with water... Weren't you?" The huge figure got down to his knees as best he could, bringing his face into the light and revealing it to be quite docile in appearance.

"Remember me? My name's Big. Does this little fella look familiar to you? I don't think he's meant to be swimmin' with the fishies..."

To the shock of both Amy and Cream, Big extended his hand to reveal none other than Nissho! The Chao quickly jumped into his mother's arms as Cream made way, Amy taking the moment to console the crying pet.

"It's ok! It's not your fault, I know the water calms you down, I shouldn't have held on so tightly!"

Big remained completely still, seemingly unaffected by the scene unfolding before him. Rather, just watched and waited for Amy to calm herself down, clutching the rescued Chao and gently removing Cream's death-grip from around her waist.

"T-Thanks, Big. Was he OK?"

"I was taking a nap by the river, waiting for a fish to bite, when I heard him yelling! I quickly fished him out-"

Amy's eyes widened at that, catching sight of the large fishing pole over Big's shoulder complete with a sharp-looking hook. Big paused, following Amy's sight to see where she was looking and quickly re-iterated:

"-oh, with my hands. Not the hook. Then followed the river back the way he came. What brings you here, anyway?"

Amy was still slightly in shock by the whole experience, taking a moment to check Nissho for injuries one last time before finally settling down.

"We... Got lost. Very lost." 

Big closed his eyes at that, nodding with a thoughtful hum as his ears lowered a tad. Amy suddenly felt slightly left out, looking between Big and Cream, the latter of which was staring at the larger cat and silently mimicking his ear-wiggles. It'd be much more endearing to Amy if she weren't tired, dirty and bruised. Big rose to his feet, reaching out a hand to Amy.

"Can you stand up? You look awful dirty... You didn't fall over, did y-"

"It's fine! I can-" Amy tried to get to her feet alongside Cream (who had taken to holding Nissho), but ended up stumbling and wincing in pain as a sharp sensation crashed through her left leg and up into the rest of her body. Back on one knee, Amy let out a groan.

"...Yeah, I fell over." She reluctantly admitted, pouting and averting her eyes from Big's blank stare. What if he was judging her?

To her surprise, it seemed to be the complete opposite. Big ears had fully drooped into a low position and for the first time, his eyes moved to show off a look of deep concern. Before Amy could even react, the large Mobian had already reached out and plucked her from the ground using only one hand, gently securing her in his free arm. Amy was at first shocked by the gesture, letting out a noise of panic, but Cream was unfazed.

"Are you gonna carry her somewhere safe, Mr. Big?"

"Yuh-huh. Is that ok, Birdie's friend?"

"M-My name's Amy! not 'Birdie's friend'." Her face was flush and voice slightly raised. If she was going to be carried to safety, it ought to be _Sonic_ doing it! Not this... Jungle man! While Amy was slightly off-put by Big, despite their prior meeting, Cream seemed entirely accepting of him. Seeing a friendly face must have re-ignited some of her energy and pep, as she skipped happily along beside Big as Nissho sung a happy-sounding song in whatever language Chao speak.

"Do you _live_ in this jungle, Mr. Big?"

"All my life."

"Wow! Your mommy must've been super smart to teach you all the roads in this place!"

Big turned to look at Cream as they walked, tilting his head.

"Mommy? What's that? I learned all these roads by myself."

Cream immediately flashed back to Amy's words on the train, quickly setting her face into a frown. Amy noticed this, piping up:

"Never mind that, how old are you, Big?"

"Me? Ooh! I'm..." Shifting the fishing pole to rest in his elbow, Big started to count on his fingers, muttering to himself. 

"It's eight, then... Then it's..." 

"...Eighteen!" Suddenly, he shouted the answer!

"Wow! So you're a grown-up? I couldn't tell!" 

Big seemed to not quite understand Cream's remark, but Amy winced a bit at her companion's unintentional jab. 18 years old and he takes that long to remember it? How long _had_ he been living out here alone? This whole situation left her feeling slightly worried, but every time she caught herself assuming the worst about Big, she reminded herself that he'd done his bit in the Perfect Chaos incident. He couldn't be bad news, not after that.

...Right? God, she hoped so. 

"Here, we made it! Is everything OK, Froggy?" Big called out to the seemingly empty shack in the middle of the jungle, tucked away behind a much shallower river that he easily stepped over. With a resounding croak, a large frog hopped up onto the side of the wooden construct and into view. Didn't this dude get cold with practically no walls on his 'house'?

"Ah, h-how lovely! A frog..." Amy grimaced as she was carried into the shack, past Froggy and gently set down on what she could only assume was Big's bed. The shack wasn't all that big, and Cream took a seat right next to Amy with Nissho left to explore what _he_ could only assume was meant to be some kind of giant trampoline.

Big chuckled at the Chao jumping up and down, gently taking a hold of Froggy and placing him near Nissho, the two of them quickly locking into a staring contest that kept the Chao still for the time being. Amy found herself distracted by the display as Cream instead focused on Big. After arranging the two smallest friends in the room to meet, the large cat was rummaging around in a space below the bed that looked far too small for him to be fitting in at his size. Cream had seen a classmate of hers do a similar thing by squeezing through the school fence, though, and she was a cat Mobian, so it must just be a special ability of theirs. Before long, Big resurfaced with a large wooden box in his hands, setting it down on the floor and flicking the lid open:

"Here, I want you to have these." Big produced two rolled up pieces of paper from the box and handed one each to Cream and Amy.

"I've been saving them up, just in case I found anyone here. You're the first ones to get them!"

Cream curiously unfurled her gift, Amy leaning over to take a look.

"It's a map! Wow, thanks Mr. Big! Now we won't get lost again! Look, Amy, we're here!" Cream excitedly pointed out the landmark doodle of Big's home, while Amy turned to look at Big himself, actually rather impressed.

"Did you make these yourself?"

"Uh-huh. You're the first visitors I ever got to give them to, since all the humans who came by before got spooked and ran away whenever I'd try to talk to 'em." Big ears slightly drooped as he added the last part, but he swiftly changed the subject.

"Are you comfortable? This house is only really made for one..." As was evident by Big sitting on the floor, which did actually make it less necessary for them to crane their necks in order to talk to him.

"Yes, Mr. Big! I can't believe there's a house all the way out here!"

"I made that all by myself too! Froggy's not very good at puttin' things together, so I did aaaall the work for us!" Big puffed up with pride as he spoke, eyes closing with delight.

All by himself? Cream looked at Froggy, then back to Big, thinking on what he'd been saying. Such a nice guy, living all by himself in the jungle with nobody but a frog for company? He had to build his own house, fish for his own food, and the human visitors were scared of him... The cogs in Cream's head began to click and whir. They were the first people to ever visit his house and receive maps, so that must mean that he'd never had friends over before! Granted, neither had Cream, that's just how it was when your only friend lived in a big city apartment and you live in the countryside, but that wasn't the point. As Cream went on with her pondering, Big cast his eyes down at Amy's bruised appendage.

"Is your leg ok? Sorry, I don't have any of those-" He tries to mime the act of wrapping something around Amy's leg, looking up at her to hope she understands the word he's forgetting.

"O-Oh, bandages? No, that's fine! It'll be alright, I just need to rest it for a while, thank you though." Amy's awkward smile took on a more genuine appearance, her lingering worries about Big being thankfully disproved. 

Cream was eager to hear that, they could talk with Mr. Big longer! She bounced slightly on the bed, looking up at Amy.

"How do you and Mr. Big know eachother, Amy? Who's Birdie?"

"Oh, uh, do you remember when Station Square got all flooded with water?"

Cream nodded.

"We had to delay our trip to the Chao Garden! Mommy said it was too dangerous to go and visit, so I had to make do with just my books."

"Well, Sonic was the one to put a stop to that! Me, Mr. Big, Tails and Knuckles, who are Sonic's friends, all came to help. There was also a little birdie, who I was looking after at the time, he came too!"

"Ooh! I remember! Sonic held those black stones and turned all shining and golden! He was flying all over the place like a shooting star, it was so pretty..." 

"That night, I had a nice dream where _I_ got to turn gold and fly around like a star. I'd like to try it, one day." Big closed his eyes, letting out a happy sigh. Cream giggled at the thought. 

Big leaned forward a bit, placing his chin in his hands and looking at Amy.

"While we wait for you to feel better, could you tell us more about Sonic? You seem really smart."

"Me? Well - I suppose I do know a lot about Sonic... Sure, I'll talk about the time we first met." Amy couldn't help but feel her heartbeat quicken as the memories washed over her mind. With Cream and Big now focusing their attention on her, Amy quickly checked the time on her phone... Man, too bad that thing didn't have some kinda digital map on it, imagine! Seems they had a bit of time before she'd need to take Cream back to the station, so even though it wasn't the Chao Garden adventure and introduction to Tails that she promised...

Amy cleared her throat.

"It all started the first time I successfully looked into the future, using my tarot cards."

* * *

The second time Cream got on a train, the sounds it made were more soothing than they were exciting. Amy had spun them a romantic tale of a distant planet, mystical stones and a brave blue hero who ran through even time itself to save an innocent young girl who'd been snatched away by a robotic doppelganger. Cream couldn't help but picture herself in Sonic's role, staring down the unfeeling eyes of Metal Cream, but with Amy and Mr. Big by her side! She shuffled closer to Amy, who was securing the now-asleep Nissho in her bag.

"Your story was really good, Amy!"

"Thanks, I had to hear most of what Sonic was doing through Eggman's crazy ranting, but Sonic's bravery really affected me." Amy's cheeks flushed as she smiled ear to ear. 

"That's why you're training to be like him, right? So you can be fast and brave and help people?"

"I-I mean, yeah. I thought if I could be more like Sonic, I'd be more useful to him, and then he'd take me along on adventures like he does with Tails..."

Cream pondered that for a moment, thinking about all the fantastical tales of Sonic she'd already been spun in the last few weeks, today's being the longest and most detailed. It was impossible not to see the incredible amount of work Amy was putting into her training, and it made for a much closer figure to idolize who harboured similar traits to the legendary Sonic.

"Amy, I think you're already useful! You work really hard, and you're nice to me, and... And you're so fast! You have to be nearly as fast as him by now!"

"I-If you're training to be like Sonic, then-"

Cream couldn't quite get her point out, tapping her fingers together and stammering a bit. Amy wasn't quite sure of what Cream was getting at, but put a hand on her arm in the same way that Cream did for her before in the jungle.

"If you're training to be like Sonic, then could I train to be like you?"

The words hit Amy like a truck, her hand tensing against Cream's arm as the slowly setting sun streamed it's light into the otherwise-empty train carriage. Flashes of her more... Intensive training sessions flew through her mind, trekking through mud and crying in the rain as she pushed her body to it's absolute limit in the name of awakening the latent genes within her hedgehog DNA. Cream didn't have the genetic abilities sealed away that Amy did, but seeing how the sun reflected off of the young girl's hopeful eyes paired with the mere _thought_ that Cream put her on the same level of Sonic left her stunned and briefly unable to answer.

The answer should have been obvious. No. Cream was far too young to even think of training like that. But...

"Cream, I'm not even _close_ to Sonic's level. He's probably about a hundred times faster than me, and that's just from what I've _seen_ him do!" Amy retracted her arm and used it to gesture as she spoke, a sign that she wasn't exactly sure of how to proceed with what she was saying.

"So? I want to be like you, not Sonic."

"But-" Amy had no response to that, how could she say no? But Cream was absolutely not going to be taking part in the exact same training Amy had been going through. No, it had to be something small enough to keep her safe, but impactful enough to satisfy her. She exhaled, then smiled.

"We'll go running together, how's that? You'll have to work hard, and I'll need to talk with Miss Vanilla about it, but I'll let you do that."

"Really? You mean it? And - And, we can go see Mr. Big again? With the map, we can go running in the jungle, can't we?"

"Eh? Big? Y'wanna go visit him again?" Amy tilted her head, sure - the guy was nice, but she hadn't expected Cream to want to go back to the jungle.

"Of course! He's our friend now, I've decided! He's there all alone with just his Froggy, a-and he can't talk back to him!"

"Talking back and answering, that's the important role for a friend to fill, right?"

Amy couldn't help but smile at that, patting Cream on the head.

"Yeah, I guess that's right, huh? I should really watch what I say around you." This earned a satisfied giggle from the little rabbit.

"It's hard to run in the jungle, though! We'll start with the city-route, then maybe see about buying ourselves some tougher running shoes..."

The rest of the train ride passed by quickly, filled with plans, discussion and Amy quietly sending text-messages to Vanilla as the two girls conversed. Thankfully, they weren't too late back, and Vanilla was already at the station ready to take Cream home. Glancing down at her dirty outfit, Amy honestly just wanted to go home and rest as soon as possible. As Cream climbed into her mother's car and buckled up, Amy approached the window to wave her goodbye. Vanilla was already being subjected to her daughter's excited babbling about their big adventure and the plans to go running together, but she diverted her focus enough to thank Amy in person for looking after Cream.

And just like that, the day was over. 

When Amy got home to her apartment after dropping Nissho off at the Chao Garden, she took a much-needed bath and washed her clothes, spending the entire evening doing absolutely _nothing_ as her way of relaxing after such a hectic time at the Ruins. Before bed, though, she found her eyes wandering over to her bedside table where a small, ornate wooden box was resting. Her cards. Pulling up a chair, Amy took deep breaths as she slid off the box's lid and took the deck into her two hands. Eyes closed and with practiced precision, Amy shuffled the deck before arranging it into a spread she'd grown accustomed to. A simple question:

'What does the future hold?'

After drawing each card and placing them in the respective spots, Amy opened her eyes and set the rest of the deck back down. One by one, she flipped over the cards and spent a few minutes interpreting the meanings. It was certainly something to do with relationships, but it seemed... Bleak. She should apparently be preparing her heart and mind for a hardship that will cause problems in her pursuits of romance.

"At least, that's what it feels like... Could it be romance, or something else? No, I get the feeling it's talking about love, the same as when I drew that card before-"

Amy groaned, but let a small smirk fall onto her face.

"Guess this just means I won't be getting that date anytime soon. Oh well..." She was used to the feeling by now, and it almost felt comforting to hear. After packing away her cards, Amy turned off her bedroom light and threw herself into bed.

As she lay awake in the dark, her mind wandered away towards Sonic, thinking about her reading and wondering about what the future might hold for him. Even if it didn't end with the two of them being together, Amy didn't mind so long as he was happy. Back when they first met, she might've gone into a total panic at the reading she just performed, but now Amy liked to think that she'd matured at least a little bit. With an expression of peaceful acceptance, and dreams filled with speedy blue hedgehogs, Amy Rose drifted into sleep.

* * *


End file.
